The Belated Billionaire
Page 16
“This is where you’re living?” he asked as he pulled off the main highway and onto a dirt road.
“Is this Cinder Road?” Charlotte peered through the window, but she had no idea what she was looking for.
“Yes,” he said.
“Then this is it. I was told the house was at the end of the road, overlooking the bays.” Both bays, which apparently there were two in Getaway Bay. The main bay which was named after the island, and the east bay, which was starting to become as popular and well-developed as the one to the west.
The owner of the house had tried to get more for the views, but Charlotte’s real estate agent had talked him down. It hadn’t been that hard, because the property had been on the market for seven months, and Charlotte supposed she had one thing to be thankful for: She had gotten this place and the surrounding land for a killer deal.
The cab rumbled along, but the road seemed to go forever, finally turning a bit to reveal the two-story house Charlotte had seen online. “There it is.”
“Are you sure?” The driver leaned forward with both hands on the wheel, his voice absolutely dubious.
“Yes,” she said. “As close as you can get, please.” She pulled out her wallet and leafed through her remaining cash. Several twenties, a few tens, and a dozen hundreds she had concealed in the zippered pocket of her purse.
She had enough to tip this guy to help her get her bags at least inside the front door. Then…well, then Charlotte wasn’t entirely sure what she’d do. She had no car and no groceries. Would a pizza company deliver here? Could they even find it? While it was centrally located overlooking both bays, it wasn’t exactly in a populated area.
The cab eased to a stop behind an SUV, which set Charlotte’s heart to racing. “That’s odd,” she said. Maybe her real estate agent had decided to meet her. Amy had asked for her flight information, but Charlotte hadn’t heard anything else from her.
“What’s odd?” the driver asked. He turned to look at her with concern in his eyes. “Are you sure you want me to leave you here alone?”
Charlotte wasn’t sure of much anymore, but she nodded anyway. “If you could help me with the bags, I’d be grateful.” She held out a twenty-dollar bill between her fingers, and the driver got out of the car.
Taking another look at the huge, hulking black SUV, she determined that Amy would never drive such a thing. No, they hadn’t met in person, but Amy was an overly tan woman in her late forties, and Charlotte imagined her to drive a sporty, red convertible, not this three-ton monstrosity.
She got out of the cab and stretched her sore back. She’d skipped her beach yoga classes for the past four months, as they were simply too hard to attend with all of her friends. They flashed sad faces at her, asked about her ex and what she was going to do now, and Charlotte simply couldn’t handle it.
The amount of work this house required extended to the exterior, and Charlotte hoped she had enough knowledge and strength to get it all done. She’d done plenty of renovations on the interior of buildings, everything from the community center gym to individual rooms at one of the swankiest hotels off the coast of South Carolina, where she’d come from.
She also had experience in designing and re-doing landscapes, so she wasn’t worried about the weeds and wild grasses waving in the breeze coming off the bays. But she didn’t have much experience with roofs, or exterior stone, or gutters.
The driver stepped past the big SUV and deposited the first round of bags, returning for a second before Charlotte got herself in gear. She took out the key that had shown up in her mailbox two weeks ago and fitted it into the lock. With the door open, she heaved in the two bags the driver had brought up, and directed him to place the next two beside them.
When she had all her earthly belongings inside the house, she smiled, ran her hands through her shoulder-length hair, and thanked the driver.
He gave her one more look before pocketing his tip and heading back to his cab. She waited until the rumble of his motor couldn’t be heard any longer, and then she closed the door, sealing herself inside the house she’d bought sight-unseen.
“Okay.” She pushed her breath out and turned to face the rest of the house.
She’d taken one step when something clanged from further inside. “Hello?” she said, nowhere near loud enough for anyone to hear. Heck, she could barely hear herself.
Something hissed, and then the very human sound of a grunt followed. Charlotte’s heart ricocheted around inside her chest. There was someone inside her house.
She entered the kitchen and stepped around the bar to find a pair of masculine legs and a torso sticking out from underneath the sink. He wore jeans and work boots, and maybe the owner had hired a plumber to help get her off on the right foot.
“Come on,” he grumbled, clearly straining against something under the sink.
“Hello?” she said again—loud enough this time—at the same time whatever he was twisting gave against his strength. He yelped as water started spraying out from underneath the sink—and from the faucet.
The cold spray hit Charlotte in the face, and she cried out too, lifting her hands to shield her eyes in a natural reaction. She backed up, sputtering, as the man unfolded himself from beneath the sink and stood up.
“You didn’t turn off the water main?” she asked.
He glared at her, water dripping from the ends of his dark hair, his nose, and his chin. “Obviously.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t know where it was.”
Water continued to spray everywhere, and while Charlotte had been planning to replace the cabinets, she didn’t think she’d have to do it the very night she arrived.
“Do you know where it is?” he asked, a measure of hope in his voice.
“I just got here,” she said. “Of course I don’t know where the water main is.”
“Well, we have to do something.” His light blue T-shirt was soaking wet, sticking to impressive muscles in his arms and chest. Whoever this plumber was, Charlotte hoped she would have another need to call him.
He crawled back under the sink and started clanging around. The spray lessened by about half, and he groaned again, finally man-handling whatever connection was leaking into submission.
Charlotte wiped her face, her fingers coming away smeared with black. Her past self would’ve been mortified to be seen like this, but her Getaway Bay self didn’t care. She’d expected problems at her new house. She just hadn’t planned on them being two-hundred-twenty pounds of man-flesh. Dripping wet man-flesh.
She swallowed as the plumber got to his feet again. “Who are you?” she asked. Maybe she didn’t want to hire him again. A plumber who didn’t turn off the water before he started working didn’t seem all that professional.
“Dawson Dane,” he said, extending his soaking wet hand for her to shake. He wore a couple of days worth of hair on his face, and it had come in dark with flecks of gray, just like the hair on his head.
Oh, my. He was extremely good-looking, and his deep, brown eyes glinted with one of those Aloha greetings. “And you?”
“Charlotte Madsen,” she said, almost tripping over her new last name. Well, it was her old last name, but she hadn’t used it for a while, and she was still getting used to introducing herself with her maiden name.
She shook his hand, one more question to ask him. “What are you doing in my house, Dawson?”
He blinked, not bothering to wipe any water from his eyelashes. “I live here.”
Ooh, Charlotte’s got someone squatting in her house! Read THE HELICOPTER PILOT’S BRIDE and stay right here in Getaway Bay for more clean romance!
Read more by Elana
Want to read more clean billionaire romance set in paradise? Of course you do! Read THE BILLIONAIRE’S BRIDE, Book 2 in the Brides & Beaches Romance series, right here in Getaway Bay!
Love Getaway Bay and want to read about more happily-ever-afters on the island? Yay! Start the Brides & Beaches Roman
ce series with THE HELICOPTER PILOT’S BRIDE and meet the women at Your Tidal Forever, who plan weddings while they search for their own happily-ever-afters.
Do you love beach romance? Want to try a non-traditional beach in Washington, home of the world’s largest lavender festival? Read THE PARAMEDIC’S SECOND CHANCE, Book 1 in the Hawthorne Harbor Second Chance Romance series.
About Elana
Elana Johnson is the USA Today bestselling author of dozens of novels, from YA contemporary romance to adult beach romances. Check out her YA romance in JUST FRIENDS, ELEVATED, TO BE YOURS, and SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE. She is also the author of the Clean Billionaire Beach Club Romance series, the Brides & Beaches Romance series, and the Hawthorne Harbor Romance series.
Find her on Facebook, twitter, and her blog. Tap here to see all her books.
She also writes under the pen name Liz Isaacson, who is the author of the USA Today bestselling author of the Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Gold Valley Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, and the Christmas in Coral Canyon Romance series (Whittaker Brothers novels).
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THE BELATED BILLIONAIRE
Book Twelve, Clean Billionaire Beach Club Romance series
by Elana Johnson
Copyright © 2018 by AEJ Creative Works Inc, Elana Johnson
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
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